Quotation marks [ “ ” ]

PUNCTUATION -- Use of a period [ . ] -- The Question Mark [ ? ] -- The Exclamation Mark [ ! ]

The Colon [ : ] -- The Semicolon [ ; ] -- The Hyphen [ - ] --The Dash [ — ] -- The Parentheses [ ( ) ]

The Bracket [ [ ] ] -- The Ellipsis [ … ] -- The Apostrophe [ ’ ] -- Quotation marks [ “ ” ]

The Slash or Virgule [ / ] -- Rules for Comma Usage [ , ]

Use quotation marks [ “ ” ] to set off material that represents quoted or spoken language. Quotation marks also set off the titles of things that do not normally stand by themselves: short stories, poems, and articles. Usually, a quotation is set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma; however, the typography of quoted material can become quite complicated. Here is one simple rule to remember:

In the United States, periods and commas go inside quotation marks regardless of logic. Click HERE for an explanation (sort of).

In the United Kingdom, Canada, and islands under the influence of British education, punctuation around quotation marks is more apt to follow logic. In American style, then, you would write: My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design." But in England you would write: My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design". The placement of marks other than periods and commas follows the logic that quotation marks should accompany (be right next to) the text being quoted or set apart as a title. Thus, you would write (on either side of the Atlantic):

• What do you think of Robert Frost's "Design"? and
• I love "Design"; however, my favorite poem was written by Emily Dickinson.

Further, punctuation around quoted speech or phrases depends on how it fits into the rest of your text. If a quoted word or phrase fits into the flow of your sentence without a break or pause, then a comma may not be necessary:

• The phrase "lovely, dark and deep" begins to suggest ominous overtones.

Following a form of to say, however, you'll almost always need a comma:

• My father always said, "Be careful what you wish for."

If the quoted speech follows an independent clause yet could be part of the same sentence, use a colon to set off the quoted language:

• My mother's favorite quote was from Shakespeare: "This above all, to thine own self be true."

When an attribution of speech comes in the middle of quoted language, set it apart as you would any parenthetical element:

• "I don't care," she said, "what you think about it."

Be careful, though, to begin a new sentence after the attribution if sense calls for it:

• "I don't care," she said. "What do you think?"

Convention normally insists that a new paragraph begins with each change of speaker:

"I don't care what you think anymore," she said, jauntily tossing back her hair and looking askance at Edward. "What do you mean?" he replied. "What do you mean, 'What do I mean?'" Alberta sniffed. She was becoming impatient and wished that she were elsewhere. "You know darn well what I mean!" Edward huffed. "Have it your way," Alberta added, "if that's how you feel."

In proofreading and editing your writing, remember that quotation marks always travel in pairs! Well, almost always. When quoted dialogue carries from one paragraph to another (and to another and another), the closing quotation mark does not appear until the quoted language finally ends (although there is a beginning quotation mark at the start of each new quoted paragraph to remind the reader that this is quoted language). Also, in parenthetical documentation (see the Guide to Writing Research Papers), the period comes after the parenthetical citation which comes after the quotation mark" (Darling 553).

In reporting "silent speech"—noting that language is "said," but internally and not spoken out loud—writers are on their own. Writers can put quotation marks around it or not:

• Oh, what a beautiful morning, Curly said to himself.
• "Oh, what a beautiful morning!" Curly said to himself.

Some writers will set such unspoken language in italics or indent it in order to set it off from other "regular" language. That's probably not a good idea if there is a lot of it because the indents can be confusing and italics can become tiresome to read after a while. The decision will probably depend on the amount of silent speech within the text. Probably the best way to handle silent speech is to find an author whom you like who does a lot of this—Graham Swift in his novel Last Orders, for instance—and copy that author's style. Consistency, of course, is very important.